Sometimes the things that make or break a beauty routine are the less glamorous tools that you take for granted. I’ve rounded up the non-makeup essentials that are the real stars of the show – at home or when travelling, I wouldn’t be without them.

Seche Vite Fast Drying Topcoat, £9.00
I’ve said it before and I will say it again: I refuse to paint my nails without this. It makes nails dry SO quickly, so when you inevitably need to use the loo 30 seconds after you’ve given yourself a manicure, the chances of royally screwing it up are drastically reduced. Yes, it goes super gloopy by the time you get half way through the pot but the results are worth buying a new one.

Tangle Teezer Compact Styler, £12.99
The only hairbrush that I’ve ever re-purchased. My hair isn’t the type that I can just casually run a hairbrush through, unless for some explicable reason I want to rock the frizzy mane look. I don’t know what it is about the Tangle Teezer but it’s the only brush that makes my hair look sleeker and shinier while gently detangling the knots. Plus the ‘Compact Styler’ versions come with a handy cover – perfect for chucking into your handbag.

Tweezerman Wide Grip Tweezers, £19.50
Spending £20 on tweezers might seem excessive but it would be money well spent. These are essential for grabbing those teeny-tiny hairs from around the eyebrows in between threading sessions. And, you know a bright pink product is good when you incessantly catch your husband using it to tend to his own unruly brows.

Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover, £4.99
Another forever repurchase. Who has time for bottles of nail polish remover, cotton pads, annoying spills and noxious fumes? This pot takes nail polish off in literally two seconds, and leaves nails nourished and smelling great. Especially useful when you’ve only messed up one or two nails and don’t want to risk using acetone soaked pads and ruining your other nails. Also essential for travelling.

Duo Eyelash Adhesive, £4.99
All false eyelash wearers fear the dreaded inner corner lift. More often than not, the glue is to blame, especially when it’s not waterproof. Duo lash glue is by far the best I’ve tried, and nine times out of ten, I don’t get any lifting. I have cried, danced and slept after using this glue and my lashes are always still secure the next morning. Quids in!

Let me know what your favourite non-makeup essentials are and if there is anything I need to pick up during my next foray into Boots.

When it comes to highlighters, I’m of the opinion that more is more. Highlighter is one of my favourite makeup products and rarely leave home without a quick swipe on my cheekbones. And with so much choice around at hugely varied price points, I thought I’d pick out a few from my collection to suit a variety of budgets.

SAVE: MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder, Pink Shimmer, £3.00
When once highlighting powders could rarely be found on the shelves of Superdrug, now they are a lot easier to track down away from the beauty counters. At only £3, Undress Your Skin in Pink Shimmer is a pretty decent offering. It’s not the most finely milled nor the most pigmented but for the price, you’d be hard pressed to find anything better. This would work especially well on lighter skin tones, and the swirl effect is to die for.

SPEND: The Balm Mary Lou Manizer, £17.50
I don’t have to say much about Mary Lou, do I? Much like most of the blogging community, I love this stuff and reach for it most days. Mega shimmer might not be everybody’s cup of tea on an average day but I personally can’t get enough. The most golden of the bunch, this flattering highlighter is guaranteed to look beautiful on every skin tone. You can see it in action here, although my photo definitely doesn’t do it justice.

SPLURGE: Kevyn Aucoin The Celestial Powder, Candelight, £35
Do you remember before Mary Lou came along and everyone used to rave about this? If I’m honest, I hardly ever remember to use this these days. When I looked up how much I paid for it, I must say it smarted a little. However, I’ll be making a conscious effort to use the Celestial Powder more often. You really notice how finely milled and smooth this is after swatching the previous two highlighters, and it does give an almost ethereal glow. If Mary Lou is too full-on for you, and you have cash to burn, try this out. It gives a gorgeous gleam without much shimmer which is difficult to find in cheaper products. Gorgeous colour too – not quite gold, not quite pink but somewhere in the middle.

Have you tried any of these highlighters? Which one is your favourite?

I was actually flabbergasted when I realised my last favourites post was almost a year ago. There have been plenty of products I’ve enjoyed so I can only put this down to laziness. Soz! Anyway I’ve got all of my favourites on my face for demonstrative purposes above.

Anastasia Beverley Hills DipBrow Pomade, Dark Brown, £15.00

I’ve just reviewed this and you can find it here. Basically I hardly ever used this until I ran out of my last Brow Wiz (review here) and I haven’t looked back. Sweat proof, perfect brows.

Rimmel Glam’Eyes Liquid Eyeliner, Black, £3.99

I’ve probably gone through about 20 of these in my life but stopped in favour of pen liners or gel liners. After about a two year hiatus, I’ve come crawling back to Glam’Eyes. Yes, it’s very wet, messy and doesn’t survive more than a drop of rain, which may seem pointless for anyone in a maritime climate, but for precision and smoothness, it can’t be beaten. Perfect for flicks.

L’Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil Oil-in-Cream, Dry Rough Hair, £6.99

You know when you’ve been out in the rain, and your hair has gone all frizzy and you don’t have time to wash it so you attempt to ‘just run the straighteners through it’ and it ends up inexplicably looking greasy and dry at the same time? Well, this stuff is the secret ingredient – it turns weather-beaten hair into a soft and shiny mane. Plus it can be used as a leave in conditioner for wet hair or as a pre-shampoo mask.

The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer, £17.50

I’m sure I don’t have to go on about this. Stunning, stunning, stunning champagne highlighter with no obnoxious glitter.

As far as matte lip products go, these pencils are some of the cheapest, least drying and easiest to wear I’ve tried. Nude Perfection is literally, the perfect nude and has been my go-to lip almost every day. Thinking about it, I think this is the only lipstick that I’ve ever finished and repurchased. Full review of the range here.

If you’re sick to the gills of hearing “brow game strong” and “eyebrows on fleek” then you’re in good company. All I’m here to do is talk about good eyebrows without the infuriating lingo.

I’ve tried more eyebrow products than I care to think about it so naturally I had to try Anastasia Beverley Hills DipBrow Pomade. I’ve had mine for a while but have only recently been using it on a daily basis since I ran out of my Anastasia Brow Wiz (review here) and haven’t gotten round to replacing it.

In case you didn’t know, DipBrow is a waxy pomade in quite a dry and pliable texture. The best way to describe it would be like a chocolate bar that’s been sitting out in the sun, minus the mess. I bought mine along with the Anastasia Mini Duo Brush #7, which has an angled brush on one end and a spooly on the other.

The Anastasia colour ranges are almost too good – I put off buying this as I was unsure which colour would suit me best – it could have been Chocolate, Dark Brown or Ebony. In the end, I tracked down where I could see it in the flesh (Blow Ltd, if you’re in London) and settled on Dark Brown. The colour match is quite frankly, perfect, for my almost-black eyebrows.

A little bit of this stuff goes a very long way – be warned. The easiest way I find to use it is to lightly outline my eyebrows, extending the tail slightly then brushing the product though, from top to bottom. Because it’s got quite a dry texture, your brush doesn’t end up slipping all over the shop when outlining, giving you a decent amount of control. It takes a bit of practice but these days I can do my eyebrows with DipBrow in a couple of minutes.

The stand out feature for me is the longevity. I’ve put this on in the morning, gone to work, then gone out, gone to bed, woken up the next day, haven’t washed my face and gone to work again (don’t judge) and my eyebrows have stayed perfect when the rest of me was a mess. If there was a nuclear blast, all that would be left is cockroaches and eyebrows.

Personally, I absolutely love Anastasia DipBrow but I’m generally an eyebrows kind of person. If you are too, then I would highly recommend you get your little paws on a pot if you want that perfect look you see on Instagram. If you’re not that bothered about eyebrows then I don’t think it’s a necessity – you’d probably be better suited to the equally brilliant but user-friendly Anastasia Brow Wiz (review here).

A few tips should you choose to proceed:

DO use the Anastasia #7 or #12 brush. The angled side is VERY thin and relatively stiff, giving you all the control you need

DO dust your brows with powder before starting if you’ve got your base on – things will be less slippery

My makeup life has been very boring of late, which is probably why I’ve been AWOL. But, I have been enjoying cutting down on the time it takes to trowel my face on every morning. The extra time has been spent hitting snooze another 20 times while attempting to stop the cat from sitting on my face.

My skin has been pretty parched and any kind of base makes it look like the Sahara so I’ve been skipping it altogether and opting for a richer moisturiser with a bit of concealer to cover my dark circles. Nothing too heavy – Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer does the job. It doesn’t cover the darkness completely but improves the situation significantly. I set that quickly with some powder, I’m liking Bourjois Healthy Balance at the moment. I also put a bit on my nose to stop it getting shiny during the day, and a little through my eyebrows to get rid of any moisture before I go in with Anastasia DipBrowpomade. I buff in some Benefit Hoolabronzer on my cheekbones, jawline and temples to warm up my face and balance out the lightness of the concealer under my eyes. Then, a quick slick of mascara – I’m not particularly loyal to one particular mascara right now but Maybelline Lash Sensational gives a nice separated effect, making me look a little less sleep deprived. Finally, a nude lip finishes my face off before I dash out the door. I keep going back to Maybelline Color Drama Intense Velvet lip pencil in Nude Perfection is literally the perfect nude (full review here).

And that’s it! This look takes me 10-15 minutes to do which is a welcome change to the previous 45 minutes I used to take!

Last year, I was hovering around the Seventeen stand in Boots feeling self conscious about being at least a decade older than the target market when the Falsifeye HD mascara caught my eye. The apparently untouched before and after photos looked unbelievable so naturally in my basket the mascara went.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t bowled over by this mascara when I first used it. It’s got a plastic spiky wand and the forumla is on the drier side, and I felt like it wasn’t doing much for my lashes. At the time, I was drowning in new mascaras so I chucked it to the back of the drawer and didn’t use it for months.

However, recently I was after a natural look so thought I’d use it – I was astounded by the results. I have no idea if the formula changed (it’s by no means a ‘wet’ mascara) or if I was doing something different, but its lengthening and separating powers are amazing. There’s also barely any clumping so it’s great for the lower lashes too. It isn’t the most volumising but it layers well underneath volumising mascaras if that’s the look you’re going for.

If you’re after a budget friendly lengthening mascara, this is a great one to try (pretty sure Wayne Goss is a fan too).

I have quite the glut of empties today – does anyone else get a fuzzy feeling inside when you throw away a mountain of rubbish?

Radox Muscle Soak, £2.00
Not sure if this eases muscle ache any more than normal bubble baths but pleasant enough although nothing to right home about. Everyone has a bottle of Radox in their bathroom right?

Repurchase? Maybe

L’Oreal Elnett Hairspray, £2.60
I’ve tried countless other hairspray brands and this is the only one that doesn’t make my hair sticky and crunchy. Forever repurchased – I’m never without it.

Repuchase? Already have

Philip Kingsley Elasticizer Extreme, £30
I have a strained relationship with my hair and don’t feel like it deserves high end products. However, for this cult product I’ll make an exception. I bought this pot after trying out a travel size, and was hooked. It genuinely makes me hate my hair a little bit less.

Repurchase? Yes

Garnier 2-in-1 Express Eye Makeup Remover, £3.49
I was neither here nor there with this. It’s one of those bi-phase solutions which you have to shake up. It did a decent enough job of removing eye makeup without too much effort but was a little greasy. Nonetheless, one of the better drugstore options.

Repurchase? Maybe

Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Wash, £6.50
Out of all the S&G body washes, this one is my most repurchased and probably my favourite. It’s fresh and uplifting and the bottle lasts months, depending on how often you wash yourself.

Repurchase? Yes

Soap & Glory Orangeasm Body Wash, £6.50
Again, very fresh and zesty. I thought I’d like this more than Sugar Crush, and whilst it is indeed, orangeasmic, I think I just about like Sugar Crush more.

Repurchase? Probably

Avene Eau Thermale Micellar Lotion, £13.00 for 200ml
Not a lotion, just a water. I honestly can’t tell the difference between most micellar waters. Does what it says on the tin, and this tiny size was great for travelling and lasted forever (probably because I haven’t done much travelling). But there are cheaper options that do the same thing.

Repurchase? No

Murad Vitalic Energizing Pomegranate Cleanser, £28 for 150ml
I got this in a set, so not one I’d buy individually. Apparently foaming cleansers are to be avoided like the plague so I’ll probably steer clear. It was an ok cleanser, did the job gently but it didn’t blow me away, especially for the price. Also, I think it has been renamed to Pore Reform Daily Cleansing Foam, otherwise it has been discontinued.

Repurchase? No

Lush American Cream Hair Conditioner, £4.50
This is one of those conditioners that doesn’t feel like it’s doing much in the shower but when your hair has been dried and styled, the softness and shine is incredible. I’be only ever used this in conjunction with the Lush Braziliant solid shampoo so I’m not sure which is the praise worthy party. Maybe both?

Repurchase? Yes

Boots Time Delay Daily Cleansing Micellar Water, £4.49
This has a suspiciously high rating on the Boots website but I suspect those reviewers haven’t tried other micellar waters? I said most are similar but this is one that I hated. So much so I chucked it away when there was still half the bottle left, which is unheard of for a hoarder like me. It stung my eyes and felt weirdly sticky on my skin. Bizarre.

Repurchase? No

Sanctuary Spa Radiance Exfoliator, £2.99
I’m never without this exfoliator and always stock up on the travel sizes. It’s nice and scrubby without being overly harsh but really gives my skin a good polish. Makes a visible difference.

Repurchase? Already have?

Boots Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz, £5.99
I really grew to love this and now it’s gone I miss it. It’s refreshing, hydrating and is perfect for wiping away the last traces of makeup after cleansing. I don’t even like rose that much but this was a joy to use. Apparently it visibly tightens pores but I don’t have a pore issue so can’t verify.

Repurchase? Yes

RapidLash Eyelash Enhancing Serum, £41.00

I need to do a review of this but this stuff genuinely works. My lashes are a fair bit longer and definitely fuller, but I find you have to keep using it to hold onto the benefits.

Repurchase? Already have

Carmex Moisture Plus Ultra Hydrating Lip Balm Pink Tint, £4.49
One of the few pink tinted lip balms that actually show up on me. Lovely colour, minty and moisturising. I also like how it’s relatively quick to use up – there’s something very satisfying about finishing a product.

Repurchase? Already have.

Nair Argan Oil Facial Wax Strips, £5.69
I’m not especially loyal to one waxing brand but I liked the look of these. However, after using them, I wasn’t any less mustached than before. These literally pulled out about two hairs and lost their stickiness after the first yank. Next please.

Repurchase? No

Boots Cosmetic Cotton Buds, £1.40
Another constant repurchase. Here’s a tip (literally) – make sure you get the ‘cosmetic’ buds, not the normal cotton buds. The pointed end is perfect for cleaning up botched winged liner and too-fat eyebrow tails.

Repurchase? Already have

Superdrug Cosmetic Cotton Buds, £1.39
Exactly the same as the Boots ones, I just pick them up from wherever is easiest at the time.

Repurchase? Yes

Dove Beauty FInish Anti-Perspirant, £2.99
Does the job, smells good and doesn’t sting. I get through these pretty quickly.

Repurchase? Already have

No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Balm, £9.50
Don’t let the name fool you – this is most definitely not a balm, it’s more like a cream. This was ok, it left my skin feeling very moisturised and clean but stung my eyes horribly so not a good one for removing the last traces of mascara.

Repurchase? No

Philip Kingsley Re-Moisturizing Shampoo, £17 for 250ml
I don’t usually spend much on shampoo but this is genuinely one of the very few shampoos that actually felt moisturising on my coarse, dry hair. I’m in two minds about this as I’m pretty happy with my cheaper Lush option at the moment and I focus on conditioners and masks more when dealing with my dryness.

I for one don’t need anymore eyeshadow sticks. But, with everyone raving about the new Bourjois Colorband 2-in-1 eyeshadow & liners I literally couldn’t stop thinking about them. I’d swatched them in store a few times before committing to a purchase (I don’t know who I was kidding) and haven’t put them down since. I picked up ‘Noir Abstrait’, a matte black and ‘Brun Dadaiste’, a shimmery brown.

As you can see from the photos, the pigmentation is intense, and the texture is buttery smooth and easy to blend with fingers. You’re probably thinking, ‘yeah but what makes these so spesh?’ and I wouldn’t blame you – most shadow sticks these days can be described the same way. The most impressive thing about these sticks is the wear time and the lack of creasing. Seriously, these photos were taken at the end of the day, about 12 hours after application (I put the brown shade on my eyelid, and the black in my waterline and smudged it into the top and bottom lash lines). There’s minimal creasing (EVERYTHING creases on me so a little bit was expected) and just look at that waterline. Even Urban Decay 24/7 pencils start to wear off on me after 4 or 5 hours so this was seriously impressive. The black shade will definitely be my go-to waterline option. It’s a little chunky but the tip is pointed enough to give control over where it goes.

If you’re on the fence about succumbing to yet another shadow stick, I would totally recommend giving in.

Bourjois Colorband 2-in-1 Eyeshadow & Liners are available at Boots and Superdrug for £5.99.

Apologies for my hiatus, I was busy getting married and mini-mooning in Paris! I had the BEST time but I know how boring weddingy stuff is if it’s not on your radar so I won’t go on about it. Anyway, I was more excited to get to Paris and feverishly raid the pharmacies and Sephora. Looking at my bounty, I’m both shocked and appalled at myself for not going more wild in the aisles. However, I am rather pleased with my purchases and got my mitts on a lot of products I’d been fantasising about.

Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré
I already have this in a smaller size but it was a bit cheaper in France so I popped the larger tube into my basket. A nice and basic moisturiser for underneath foundation and great for travelling.

La Roche-Posay Serozinc
Apparently it’s sacrilege to set foot in France and not load up on this spray-on toner so I bought three. I’ve just started to use it to see what all the fuss is about and so far it’s a pleasant enough spritz, much like the Avene thermal water, just a little saltier. I’ve got some blemishes on my forehead so I’m excited to see if this magic water clears them up.

Bioderma Micellar Solution
Need I say more?

Caudalie Beauty Elixir
I’ve resisted giving into this for the longest time and still don’t really understand what it’s supposed to do but it was 7 or 8 Euros so of course I was going to buy it. Looks like a good one for the summer.

Caudalie Moisturising Toner
This French skincare haul seems to be full of things that have a very vague purpose. I’m not massively into toners but there was something about this one that caught my eye so I’m looking forward to incorporating this into my skincare routine.

Makeup Forever HD Foundation
This is what I was most excited about and despite a very dubious matching process with A LOT of language barrier issues, I came away with the perfect shade for my skin. I used this for the remainder of my time in Paris and it was flawless. I’m excited about using it more.

Makeup Forever HD Loose Powder
I’m not a big powder kind of gal but while I was getting the companion foundation, I had to stick my finger into this powder. And let me tell you, it was like stroking the undercarriage of angel kittens. I’m waiting for a decent night out with lots of sweaty dancing to put this to the test but holy moly, this stuff is special.

With my wedding 9 days away and still no flowers ordered and music still not chosen, I did what any self-respecting bride-to-be would do and rummaged through my drawers (saucy) to see if there was anything new I could waste even more time playing with. The Makeup Revolution Hot Smoked palette is by no means new, and I don’t remember buying it but it was calling out to be used.

For £4, you get a very generous 12 shades in a mixture of matte and shimmer finishes – perfect for the thrifty among us or if you’re experiencing a personal credit crunch and happen to be desperate for new eyeshadows. I’m absolutely pants at determining whether something is cool toned or warm toned, but despite its ‘hot smoked’ moniker I’d say it leans more towards the cooler end of the spectrum. There’s no mirror in this one which is inconvenient but for £4 you can’t afford to be a fusspot.

You can see from the photos that these eyeshadows swatch quite nicely. My expectations of the matte shades were low but I was pleasantly surprised. The darker shades were especially good. The texture is smooth and pretty much what we have come to expect from ol’ Makey Rev. I wouldn’t go as far as saying these are the most buttery I’ve ever tried but for the price I don’t think you can find much better.

I did a quick look using a few of the shades to get a better idea of how they’re like to work with and that’s when things went a bit wrong for me.

Here’s the thing, I have very dry skin and all the oil that’s in my face is annoyingly confined to my eyelids. As you can imagine, this conundrum makes eyeshadow tricky at the best of times and eyeball-poppingly frustrating at the worst of times. I didn’t use any primer as I wanted to get a true picture of the Hot Smoked’s performance. Also, I couldn’t be bothered. I found the eyeshadows applied a little patchily on my lids and it was difficult to get an even colour. I wouldn’t say pigmentation is an issue with these, I just couldn’t get an even wash of colour. Blending out the edges with a fluffy brush was relatively drama free which is a bonus.

I tried very hard not to get mascara on my eyelid but alas, my rubbish hand-eye co-ordination failed me. The finished look isn’t too bad but you can certainly see where the shadows didn’t apply properly in the centre of the lid (maybe I should’ve gone for the primer first). Colour wise, I don’t think it massively suits me, it all looks a bit cool and grey, so I think this is would suit blue or green-eyed ladies a lot better. On the plus side, I didn’t get much creasing and it stayed pretty decent for most of the work day. All in all, decent quality for the insane price but it’s not really for me so I’m out.

Has anyone else tried this? I want to try another one that suits me better – any recommendations?